


Duty and Dishonor

by TaraTargaryen



Series: The Nuclear Option [6]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Denial of Feelings, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fate, Feelings, Fluff, Friendship, Romance, Self-Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-25 01:13:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6174364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraTargaryen/pseuds/TaraTargaryen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danse is exposed and flees. Adams finds herself on unstable ground again, fighting to save the man she thinks she loves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Duty and Dishonor

**Author's Note:**

> Didn't have anything better to do today except edit and write my chapter on the Blind Betrayal quest. Everything here is completely canon. Perspective starts off from Adams, chronologically after Love and Liberty Reprimed if you feel like reading it. Around half-way perspective switches back to Danse.
> 
> I just wanted to demonstrate the parallels in their thoughts and feelings. If for once one of them had actually said what they were thinking for once, they might have had a completely different conversation. Except, like in real life, we rarely say the things we want to out loud when everything else around us is so uncertain. Sometimes I think they're afraid of loving each other. Danse is petrified of caring so deeply about someone (and he has a good reason to, after all, he had to kill Cutler), and Adams is afraid to let go. The conventions of relationships that are familiar to her do not belong in her Brave New World and she doesn't know how to go about articulating what she wants, especially not to the man who has essentially put her back together, and given her a reason to keep going.

Adams collapsed at Waypoint Echo. Scribe Haylen cleaned up her face, and radioed for a vertibird. Other words were exchanged but she didn't care to pay attention to them. She did notice that Knight-Captain Cade had come aboard the vertibird, and was personally escorting her back to the Prydwen. The knight fell asleep, nestled against his shoulder, not that power armor was comfortable. Aboard the Prydwen, one of Proctor Ingram's knights decompressed her armor, and Cade coaxed her out of it. "The initiate and the knight are talking your armor up to the workshop," she heard him saying. "You're being escorted to the medbay now." Adams felt far to exhausted to argue. One of Cade's knights administered another stimpack and someone stitched her cheek back together. They gave her a bag of RadAway, directly through an IV. It made her feel pleasantly warm, coursing through her circulatory system. Even her fingertips and toes felt newly invigorated. As she drifted in and out of consciousness, she noticed many visitors. Ingram and Brandis had both come to sit by her bed; Elder Maxson came in, saluting the medical officer. Words were tossed around, things that sounded like _radiation sickness_ and _battle fatigue_. In a half-awake daze she even thought she heard Lancer-Captain Kells' dulcet tones, God knows why he was visiting, he didn't even like her. She finally awoke from her groggy slumber about 47 hours later, according to her PipBoy. "Take it easy," Cade said, not looking up from his desk.  

"I feel fine. Mostly." Adams lied, lightly brushing her fingers over the new stitches on her face.

Knight-Captain Cade chuckled. "If I had a cap for every time I heard that..." He looked up, smiling. 

He gave her a rigorous once over and cleared her for duty. "I don't suppose Paladin Danse's report is in yet?" Adams' chest ached as she thought about the intense pride she'd seen in his warm brown eyes before he dismissed her, and the tenderness of his kiss.  

Cade's face went suspiciously blank. "I can't say." He replied, tone suddenly sharp. "But Elder Maxson has ordered you to report to the Command Deck immediately after clearance." 

"No rest for the wicked," Adams replied archly, scratching at her cheek.

Cade snatched at her wrist firmly. "No scratching, Knight." He frowned, though his blue eyes were gentle.  

"Affirmative, Sir." Adams stood, and saluted sharply.  

"Ad victoriam, Knight." Cade saluted back. Adams caught Brandis' eye in the mess, and he excused himself from his companion and left. Brotherhood members shrank away from her, or hurried out of her way. Adeline felt annoyed. _I haven't caught the Blue Plague,_ she wanted to yell. _I got fucking scratched by a ghoul_ _, and got rad poisoning_ _. God, how_ _emba_ _r_ _rassing_ _._ She groaned internally. Her head was pounding, so she took the slow way down and climbed down the ladder like a respectable soldier for once.

"Ma'am." The knight outside the door didn't even look at her. _Oh good, the security detail too. Have I become a social leper?_ Maxson was standing stalwart by the window, legs apart, hands behind his back. _The perfect soldier, an exemplary leader. As always._ Adeline joined him, and he pretended not to notice. She cleared her throat, mildly infuriated. Maxson turned on her, fury in his eyes. She looked at the jagged scar running up his cheek. With his twisted expression, he looked almost ugly, and her heart caught in her throat. 

 

"Is there anything you wish to tell me, knight?" His cold anger froze the blood in her veins, and she resisted the urge to slap him.  

"After everything I have done for the Brotherhood, you're _accusing_ me? I have _nothing_ to hide." She spoke through her teeth, her voice a serpentine hiss.  

Maxson's expression softened slightly. "I find that _very_ hard to believe. Proctor Quinlan has completed the decryption of the data you retrieved from the Institute." Maxson studied her, and she stiffened in defiance. When she didn't say anything, he continued. "A portion of his findings included a list of synths that have gone missing or escaped from their underground facility. After careful analysis of the information, we've discovered something... unprecedented." Maxson waited for her to speak again but Adams remained in stony silence. "Paladin Danse is a perfect match for one of the synths on that list."  

Adeline reeled, feeling her knees tremble. _No!_ She scolded herself. _You will not show weakness in front of Arthur Maxson._ "No." She heard herself choke pitifully. "No. There has to be a mistake."  

"I'm afraid not. The evidence is... quite damning. The data you brought back included a record of each subject's DNA. We keep the same information on file for all of our soldiers. Paladin Danse's DNA is a perfect match for a synth they called _M7-97_. To make matters worse, Danse has gone AWOL. Disappeared without a trace. His sudden absence simply reinforces our conclusion that M7-97 and Paladin Danse are one and the same." 

"No." Adeline repeated weakly. _Is there anything the Institute won't take from me?_ Her hand curled into a hard fist.  

"I'm finding it difficult to believe he never confided in you," Maxson's jaw was clenched. "and then swore you to secrecy." 

"You have some nerve, accusing me of lying. After everything I've done for the Brotherhood -" Adeline raised her voice.  

Maxson held up a hand. "Apparently, I've misjudged you." Maxson's face relaxed, though his eyes remained hard. _Join the fucking club,_ Adams thought dully. "I've decided to take you at your word. However," the knight already knew she wouldn't like what came next. "That doesn't absolve you of your duty. Danse is a synth. He represents everything we hate. A monstrosity of technology. Our mission in the Commonwealth is clear: the Institute and its creations need to be destroyed in order to preserve our future. Which leaves me facing the most difficult order I've ever given." He took a breath, and for a moment Adams saw him for what he was, a twenty year old boy, with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Before she could pity him, he hardened his exterior again. "I'm ordering you to hunt down Danse and execute him."  

"No. I won't do it. There has to be some other way." Adams' voice didn't tremble this time, and she felt all her conviction solidify.  

"You will do it." Maxson bared his teeth. "This is not up for judgment or debate. I'm giving you a direct order knight, and I expect you to follow it without question. Listen, I'm not blind to that fact that Danse was your mentor. This... isn't an easy burden to bear." _Speaking from experience?_ Adams wanted to sneer. "But if we're to remain strong we can't afford to make exceptions. Even when it means executing one of our own. Find Proctor Quinlan. He's been analyzing the data; she should be able to provide you with a starting point."  

 

Adams wanted to curl up inside herself.

"And knight?" Maxson added expectantly. She reluctantly met his eyes. "There's a promotion for you, riding on the results of these orders. So don't disappoint me. You're dismissed."  

Her heart breaking, Adeline smoothed out her face and headed for Proctor Quinlan's office. " ** _Attention._** ** _F_** ** _aram_** ** _squad to the debriefing._** ** _F_** ** _aram_** ** _squad to the debriefing._** " Lancer-Captain Kells' voice echoed over the intercom. Adams took a right into Quinlan's quarters.  

"Oh, knight. I was told you were coming." Quinlan's gravelly voice was as reserved as ever. "Sorry about this business with Danse."  

"He'll be missed." Adams replied gravely.  

Quinlan looked taken aback. "I beg your pardon. I only meant that I was sorry you'd been duped. Onto your orders, then." Adams' fist curled up involuntarily, and her cheek spasmed in pain as her jaw clenched. "I've been pouring over Danse's duty reports and unfortunately I haven't found any concrete information. As you're well aware, Danse had intimate knowledge of the Commonwealth and I'm afraid he could be seeking refuge anywhere. I think our best approach would be to identify every location he's ever visited and eliminate them as possibilities, one by one." Quinlan fussed around his desk. "You may want to get comfortable, this could take quite a bit of -" 

"What the _hell_ is this _crap_ about Danse being a synth?" Scribe Haylen burst into Quinlan's office. Adams was doing her best not to panic.  

"I assume your outburst was a reference to some doubt regarding Danse's identity. I can assure you that my findings are quite accurate, Scribe." Quinlan responded acidly.  

"So _he_ sets Danse up, and _you_ knock him down, is that it?" Haylen rounded on Adams.  

"I don't like your tone, Haylen." _Shut up! Shut up! I can't do this right now!_ She screeched internally at the scribe, keeping her facade frosty for Quinlan. 

 

"Maxson's made it clear that we're to locate Paladin Danse and if we find him, report his location to you. That can only mean you've been sent to hunt him down." 

"I... don't have time to discuss it right now, Haylen." _Please just go away. We can't talk about_ _this here._   

"Why?" Haylen's tone was icy, she wasn't bothering to read Adams' body language and if she was, she didn't care. "In too much of a rush to pull the trigger? I can't believe that after everything Paladin Danse did for you, you're just going to turn your back on him like this." Adams pressed her hands to her face, mostly to keep from slapping Haylen. _I wouldn't, Haylen, I couldn’t. I promise._ "There has obviously been a mistake, and we need to get to the bottom of it." Haylen's eyes were pleading, and Adams' expression mirrored hers.  

"Scribe Haylen!" Barked Quinlan. "You're addressing a senior officer and you will show her the respect she's due or so help me I'll have you brought up on charges. Now unless you're here with information that can assist us I suggest you return to the police station immediately." Scribe Haylen took a step back. Her eyes flickered from the red-faced Quinlan to the pleading eyes of Knight Adams and Adams saw the light bulb go on over her head. _Finally._   

"Of course. My apologies, Proctor. I believe I have some information that's relevant to the search." 

"Very well then," Quinlan replied, with a hint of sarcasm. "Would you care to enlighten us, or do we have to wait until you decide to grace us with your knowledge?"  

 

"Knight, if you'd accompany me to the flight deck, I'd like to show you the information I've compiled firsthand. I've stored the data on my vertibird gunship's computer." 

"I'll take anything that gets me closer to finding Danse." Adams voice was hoarse, she was fighting back tears, and Haylen noticed.  

"Yes ma'am." 

"Proceed knight. I'll continue doing my research here." Quinlan replied, as though his opinion mattered. "If you'll follow me, ma'am." The knight held out her arm cordially. Haylen grabbed Adams' elbow and made a beeline for the lower deck. Adams' heart was pounding. It was the middle of the morning, and the recreational facility was mostly empty.  

"Scribe Haylen?" Adams addressed her in hushed tones.  

"Do you actually plan on killing Paladin Danse?" Haylen's eyes met hers. 

"That's... a risky question, Haylen." Adams' snapped her head around, desperately trying to ensure no-one else was within earshot.  

"Well... before you decide, I need you to listen to what I have to say. I've known Paladin Danse ever since I was an initiate. He trained me, showed me the ropes, and when I screwed up he taught me to dust myself off and move on." _He does that._ Adams wiped the wetness furiously away from her eyes. "He's earned my admiration. My respect. And my friendship. I don't care what Quinlan's report says." _Neither do I._ "I don't care if he's a machine, or not. He's still Danse." 

"That's a bold statement." Adams whispered back, eyeing the initiate typing away noisily at the open-use terminal.  

"Danse is the most selfless person I've ever met. I've watched him risk his life on nothing more than principle alone." _So have I._ "That's why I'm asking you, not just as a member of the Brotherhood, but as a human being... give him a chance. Let him tell his side of the story. If you're not convinced by what he says, or somehow he's become truly lost to us, then you do what you have to do."  

 

"I'll hear him out, Haylen." Adams said thickly.  

"That's all that I ask. I'll just have to trust that when the time comes, you'll do the right thing. Before the Prydwen showed up, Danse had me identify a fallback point if we ever lost the police station. It was Listening Post -" Adeline put up a hand. 

"Don't say Listening Post Bravo." Haylen's voice trailed off in surprise, and picked up. 

"Listening Post Bravo, an old pre-War U.S. Military outpost on the northern frontier of the Commonwealth." 

"I know. My husband was stationed there before the War."  

Haylen took a moment to absorb the information. "It's isolated, and we're the only ones that know about it. So... there's a good chance that's where he's headed. Just be careful. There's no telling what state of mind he's in right now, or if he trusts any of us at all."  

Adams placed her hands on Haylen's shoulders. "Thank you." Adams didn't bother going back upstairs for her power armor. If Danse was far gone enough to attack her, she wasn't sure it was worth surviving. _Synths do not want._ Shaun's voice echoed in her ear as though he were right beside her and she hissed. _You're wrong, son. You couldn't be more wrong._ She took the vertibird to Boston Airport and went around the long way. She didn't feel like running into Proctor Ingram. Adams headed for Boston. _Listening Po_ _st_ _Bravo. Of all the places I never thought I'd hear of again._ Nate had been stationed there for six months. It was a highly classified project, and Adeline should never have even known he was there, and he likely wouldn't have told her if she hadn't been pregnant at the time. 

 

She spotted the turrets from two hundred feet away, through her scope, red lamps blinking protectively. _Good. He's still fighting._ Adams approved. She rounded her route out, sneaking behind the vertipad. She took out one turret with a .50 cal, and the other started swinging around frantically, searching for the assailant. She waited for the barrel to twist _just so_ , and fired, watching the light blink out on the second turret with a brief air of smug satisfaction. MacCready had taught her well. Inside, the concrete room was small and stuffy and filled with two centuries of dust. _He's diverted the power from the elevator,_ Adams duly noted, admiring the large hand prints in the dust. She pressed her much smaller hand against it, and took a moment to breathe in the dust. She had no idea how either of them were getting out of this alive. It took her twelve minutes and forty nine seconds to reroute the power back to the elevator. The doors opened smoothly, with a _ping_. Adeline hugged herself tightly, and stepped inside. It felt like an unreasonably long trip down, but being a military installation she was used to that. A protection began firing the moment the elevator doors pinged back open, and Adams instinctively rolled behind a crate and began firing back. She took it down in three shots, mostly because it had caught her by surprise. A slightly more efficient model protectron Watcher joined the gunfire, and Adeline watched herself shoot right through it's core processor. _And that's what I call a confirmed kill,_ MacCready would have said, with a grin. A third machine gun turret blinked ominously at in her direction and Adams emptied a 10mm clip in it, fire burning in her eyes in the wake of the tiny explosion. She ducked behind one of the consoles and through a short tunnel, and came face to face with Danse. 

 

His familiar brown eyes were filled with acceptance and dismay as he registered Adeline's presence. "I'm not surprised Maxson sent you. He never liked to do the dirty work himself." All the speeches Adams had prepared were knocked out of her. She dropped her guns, duffle, and unclipped her ammo belt, letting it fell to the floor between them.  

"Why?" She demanded. "Why didn't you tell me, Danse?" A lump formed in her throat. She felt almost on the verge of hysterics again.  

"Because I didn't know." Danse was defiant. "Until Quinlan got that list decoded, I thought synths were the enemy. I never expected to hear that I was one of them. If it wasn't for Haylen, we wouldn't even be having this conversation." Adams choked at the thought. _Being dragged back to the Prydwen, executed by Maxson while I watched..._ She felt a tear escape underneath her lashes. Danse took a breath, and steeled himself. _Against me._ Adams felt her heart crack. "So. What are your orders? Does Maxson even want me alive?"  

"How could you not know?" She tried to make sense of it. His expression twisted in pain and she was sure her face matched his.  

"It doesn't make sense to me either. It just feels like a cruel joke." Her heart almost stopped. She knew that feeling better than anyone. Her life for the last _two hundred and ten years_ had been the cruelest joke she could think of.  

Danse looked as broken as she felt. "I remember being a child... I remember growing up in the ruins... everything. I suppose that was all programmed into my head." The sadness in his voice was unbearable. Adeline smeared her tears across her cheek, feeling her stitches sting. _Would you be there to hold me, if I ever needed it?_ Her sly attempt at flirting came back to her. _It's his turn to be held._ But she couldn’t force her limbs to move. It was like being in cryo all over again, trapped inside, watching someone she loved fall apart. 

 

"I mean, I feel like I've been in control of my entire life, making my own decisions, determining my own fate," Danse's eyes were locked to Adams'. "Even though the proof states I'm a synth, I don't feel any different than I did before. I still feel like a human." _Because you are._ "Why does any of this even matter to you? You're obviously here to carry out Maxson's orders." He was angry, suddenly. "Does he even want me alive?" Adams' made a split second decision. 

"No. But I'm hoping there's a way out." Her mind was racing. She barely registered Danse's look of surprise.  

"Don't be ridiculous. Look, I'm not blind to the fact that we're good friends," _F_ _riends?_ _We’re back to square one here?_ Adams' jaw dropped in indignation. "and this must be very difficult for you." _He killed_ _Cutler_ , she remembered _._ "I wish Maxson had sent someone else. But that doesn't change a thing. I'm a synth, which means I need to be destroyed. If you disobey your orders, you're not only betraying Maxson, you're betraying the Brotherhood of Steel and everything it stands for. Synths can't be trusted. Machines were never meant to make their own decisions; they need to be controlled. Technology that's run amok is what brought the entire world to its' knees and humanity to the brink of extinction. I need to be the example, not the exception." The conviction in his voice wounded Adams.  

"I remember." Her voice came out a yell, but the echoes were muffled by the dust. "I was there." She thrust her jaw forward, daring him to deny her true age. "If you truly feel that way, why did you run?" 

 

- 

 

Danse struggled to hold himself together. He felt like his world was relocating, and suddenly the tiny woman in front of him was the only gravity. "The moment I learnt the truth, I knew my life was in danger. I'm a soldier, Adams. Self-preservation kicked in. I needed to regroup and assess the situation." The words tasted like truth on his tongue. "Once I got here, and I had some time to think... I realized I'd just made everything worse. I should have returned to the Prydwen and accepted the inevitable." _Instead, here you are_ _,_ his thoughts reminded him needlessly _._ "Like I said. I need to be the example, not the exception." He hung his head.  

Adams took a step forward, looking deep into his eyes. He saw his face reflected in them: tired, dirty, defeated. "The empathy you're showing me, is a _human_ emotion." _No. Don't do this. Don't talk me down._ Danse wanted to beg her to shoot him. Anything but this.  

He straightened his back, forced out the smallest of smiles. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I've made my decision. I'm ready to accept the consequences of my true identity. Maxson's ordered you to execute me, and I'll be damned if I'm going to stand in your way." Adams' bottom lip trembled, and furious tears gushed down her cheeks, leaving wet streaks through the dust. She wrapped her arms around herself, guarding her body. _From you._ Danse thought if he had a heart it might have broken.  

"Is there any way of out of this?" Her grey eyes turned to the ceiling, like she might find the answer written there.  

"We both know that this is the right thing to do. If you refuse to follow Maxson's orders, you're undermining everything the Brotherhood stands for. I can't allow that to happen on my account." The knight refused to meet his eyes, resolutely staring at the ceiling. Her misery was an aura around her, almost palpable. 

 

"No. I won't do it, Danse." She shook her head fiercely, stumbling a little.  

"I can't believe you'd risk your life just to keep me alive." Danse snapped. He was a synth. Couldn't she see that? _Why would she? You can't even see it._ He had the grace to feel slightly ashamed, but he panicked. If Adams walked away, and Maxson hurt her for it, he wouldn't be able to live with himself anyway. It would all be for nothing, it wouldn't matter. He was a synth. He had to die. Adams kicked her duffle bag further away. "Why would you do that for me?"  

Red-rimmed grey eyes glared at him, and she made a noise that was half-way between a laugh and a sob. "I have already lost my family. I don't want to lose my friend." His chest lurched. _Losing you would hurt her. As much as losing her would hurt you._ And there he was, standing in front of her, wishing she would kill him. End it. He was already causing her grief.  

"You're right." He swallowed. "How could I have been so blind? I should consider how my death might affect the people who care about me. People like you, and Haylen." He paused. He wanted to hold her again, maybe for the last time. Kiss her again, tell her how sorry he was. _You're a synth. Your words would be empty._ "Perhaps now that you've opened my eyes, I can consider my next move."  

Adams exhaled with relief. "Whatever you decide to do, I've got your back."  

 _She'd follow you, if you asked her._ "Thank you, my friend, but I have my own path to follow." He had done enough damage here. He wanted to put as much distance between what was left of his pale excuse of a life and hers. "The only clear choice is for me to leave the Commonwealth."  

 

Adams nodded, he knew she couldn't fight the wisdom in leaving. "The sooner I make for the border, the sooner I put all this behind me." She agreed with him, silently, wearily. "Take my holotags. Use them to prove that your mission was a success or Maxson will just send someone else to hunt me down." The knight accepted them wordlessly, carefully blanking out whatever she was feeling from showing on her face. He placed his hands firmly on her shoulders, trying to remain resolute. _This is what's best for both of us._ "Now come on." He tried to sound encouraging. "Let's get the hell out of here." They rode up in the elevator together in silence. It was a warm night, Danse noticed as he stepped outside, Adams behind him. He threw out his arm, too late.  

Maxson's eyes fell on Adams, blazing with fury. "How _dare_ you betray the Brotherhood?"  

"It's not her fault. It's mine." Danse's natural instinct was to defuse the situation. 

"I'll deal with you in a moment." Arthur's hand snapped towards Danse, tensed into a white fist. "Knight! Why has this _thing_ not been destroyed?" Loathing dripped off his tongue. "What did it say to you that made you betray the Brotherhood? Why is it still alive?" 

"He's still alive because you're _wrong_ about him." Adams drew her chest up, and took a step forward.  

"Him?!" Maxson choked incredulously. "Danse isn't a man, it's a machine. An automaton created by the Institute. It wasn't born from the womb of a loving mother, it was grown within the cold confines of a laboratory. Flesh is flesh. Machine is machine. The two were never meant to intertwine. By attempting to play God, the Institute has taken the sanctity of human life and corrupted it beyond measure." _Is he right?_ Danse thought hopelessly. _Is that what I am?_ He watched Adams, standing resolute beside him. "After all I've done for the Brotherhood... all the blood I've spilled in our name... How can you say that about me?" He met Arthur's eyes. Steely grey, like Adams'. But filled with so much _hate_. 

 

"You're the physical embodiment of what we hate most. Technology that's gone too far. Look around you, Danse." Arthur spread his arms. "Look at the scorched earth, and the bones that litter the Wasteland. Millions, perhaps even billions, died because science outpaced man's restraint. They called it a 'new frontier' and 'pushing the envelope', completely disregarding the repercussions. Can't you see that same thing is happening again? You're a single bomb in an arsenal of thousands preparing to lay waste to what's left of mankind."  

"You're insane. Danse has dedicated his life to protecting mankind." A vein in Adams' temple pulsed. 

"Is that what it told you? How can you trust the word of a machine that thinks it's alive? A machine that's had its mind erased, its thoughts programmed, its very soul... manufactured. Those ethics that's its trying to champion? They aren't even its own. They were artificially inserted in an attempt to have it blend into society." 

 _And it worked, didn't it?_ Danse could have laughed. "It's true. I was built within the confines of a laboratory, and some of my memories aren't my own. But when I saw my brothers dying at my feet, I felt sorrow. When I defeated an enemy of the Brotherhood, I felt pride. And when I heard your speech about saving the Commonwealth, I felt hope. Don't you understand? I thought I was human, Arthur. From the moment I was taken in by the Brotherhood I have done absolutely nothing to betray your trust, and I never will."  

"It's too late for that now." Arthur's words were cold. "The Institute has foolishly chosen to grant you life. You simply should not exist. I don't intend to debate this any longer. My orders stand." He glared at Adams. 

 

Danse brushed her hand. "It's alright. We did our best. You convinced me that I was wrong to be ashamed of my true identity and I thank you for it. Whatever you decide, know that I'm going to my grave with no anger, and no regrets." He wanted to say so much more, but there wasn’t time. 

"Touching." Maxson spat. "Either you execute Danse or I will, Adams. The choice is yours." 

Adams took three steps until she was standing between the two of them. Danse couldn't see her face. "After all the sacrifices I have made, all the battles I have fought for the Brotherhood, you need to listen to me. You owe me that." It was like a hush fell over the wasteland, like the whole world was waiting for Arthur to reply. Danse could see the intense fury behind the younger man's eyes and he dearly wished he would be alive to spare Adams from Arthur's wrath.  

Instead, surprisingly, his brow relaxed. "Very well. I'm listening." He folded his arms behind his back.  

"If Danse dies, you lose me. I will walk away and never look back. In fact if you're going to kill him you should just go ahead and plant one in my head too, because I won't support the Brotherhood of Steel again." Adams' voice was steady and as cold as the grave. Danse and Maxson's jaws both dropped.  

"So it appears we've arrived at an impasse." Maxson caressed his gun softly. "Allowing Danse to live undermines everything the Brotherhood stands for, yet you insist that he remains alive. Which leaves me with a single alternative." Maxson looked at the gun. Danse braced himself. 

"Danse, as far as I'm concerned, you're dead. You were pursued and slain by this Brotherhood Knight and your remains were incinerated. From this day forward, you are forbidden to set foot on the Prydwen, or speak to anyone from the Brotherhood of Steel. Should you choose to ignore me, know that you'll be fired upon immediately. Do we understand each other?" 

 

Danse met the young Elder's eyes, momentarily bewildered. _Live without the Brotherhood of Steel? What was the point_ _?_ Adams turned to face him, that one strand of copper hair out of place. He knew what it felt like to caress her cheek as he tucked it away. He would keep going, for her. She had his back, showed him her unwavering support even in his darkest hours and he knew an opportunity when he saw one. 

He looked back at Maxson. "I do." He straightened his spine, strengthening his resolve. "Thank you for believing in me, Arthur." 

"Don't mistake my mercy for acceptance. The only reason you're still alive is because of _her_." He turned on his heel. "I'm returning to the Prydwen, Knight. Take some time, say your goodbyes and then I expect to see you there. We still have the Institute to deal with." He marched back towards his vertibird, as the pair watched solemnly.  

"It took a Hell of a lot of guts to stand up to Maxson like that." Danse said to the silence. 

Adams didn't look at him. "You should leave while you can." Her voice was flat, devoid of any feeling. 

"I won't deny that now is a good opportunity, but I've decided to stay." _Look at me._  "I didn't plan on spending the rest of my days at this old listening post, but it'll have to do." Adams looked at his boots. "You're still going to need my help and I'll be damned if I'm going to let you wander the Commonwealth alone." Grey eyes beseeched him, filled with caution. _If there_ _is_ _any way to undo the hurt I've caused you, I will find it,_ he vowed to himself. "Now you'd better get back to the Prydwen. In the meantime, I'll start making this bunker more livable." He pictured the dusty concrete bunker in his head, grimacing.  

"What about Haylen?" Adams' tongue became suddenly unstuck.  

"I don't think Maxson knew she was involved, so she'll be safe. I'll contact her and let her know what happened here. It's the least I can do." 

 

"Are you going to have a problem killing synths?" She asked skeptically.  

Danse laughed, albeit weakly. "I might physically be a synth, but I was raised by the Brotherhood. My heart and mind belong to them. The Institute is still a tremendous threat to the Commonwealth. They posses technologies that need to be confiscated or destroyed. I promise you I won't hesitate to pull the trigger on them."  

Adams nodded, stepping forward to grasp his hands. "This isn't goodbye, Danse." Her eyes were wet. 

"If you ever need me, I'll be right here." He agreed.  

"First, go to the Red Rocket Truck Stop outside of Sanctuary." She handed him a key with a tiny plastic red rocket keychain. "Unlock my workshop. If you have the key the turrets won't bother you. I've kept a few old power armor suits in the garage there, found all over the place really. Some T-45's and an old T-51. I think you'll like the X-01 Mark 2's though. Take anything you need. Please," She added, as he began to shake his head. "Promise me you'll go now, while Maxson is distracted." 

"Alright. I don't need to be told twice. I hope next time we meet, it will be under happier circumstances." 

"Of course it will," she breathed. "I will see you, in a few days." She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her head against his chest. He breathed in the scent of her hair, reminding him of Arc-Jet again and the first time she'd saved his life.  _We're here again,_ he thought, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. _I won't let it be the last time._

**Author's Note:**

> I needed to clear up that bit. It frustrated me in game. You come back to see your buddy and he's dressed like Buzz Lightyear and you just want to yell "Where the Hell did you get that, because it was NOT in this concrete bunker."
> 
> Besides, I collected all the power armor suits in the wasteland and repaired them and bought new parts for them. They make lovely giant metal trophies. I'm sure I wouldn't miss one, even if the X-01's are my favorite.


End file.
